Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

CASSOPOLIS — While Cass County may have finished counting ballots early Wednesday morning, the 2020 general election was a topic of discussion at Thursday evening’s Cass County Board of Commissioners meeting.

In her elected officials’ report, Cass County Clerk Monica McMichael reported a record voter turnout Tuesday. In Cass County, 26,340 eligible voters cast ballots Tuesday, breaking the county’s previous record, set in November 2008, by more than 3,000 votes.

“We set a record, which is wonderful,” McMichael said. “We had more votes cast by absentee ballot than any other previous election, four times over. It was a massive absentee turnout, which means a lot more work on the local clerks.”

McMichael said she was proud of her office and all the local township clerks for the work they did Tuesday to keep the polls running smoothly, despite challenges and lines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We ran a really safe, nice election,” McMichael said. “We do a great job with our elections here in Cass County, and I’m really proud of our local clerks and our election inspectors who worked very long days. Without them, we wouldn’t have elections.”

McMichael asked the commissioners to thank their local clerks for their efforts on Election Day — especially as their work for the election is not yet done.

“As you can imagine, it’s been a week, and while the Election Day may be done and over with, it’s not done for the clerks,” she said. “A lot of people in Michigan don’t know that after Election Day is over, nothing is official until the board of canvassers go through every single number, every paper and tie everything together. … We go through every single precinct with a fine-toothed comb to make sure everything adds up. It’s an important step that will definitely go through [Friday], if not into next week.”

Also Thursday:

• The board of commissioners passed a resolution to ratify and confirm all actions approved by the board during remote meetings.
• The board passed a motion to approve the purchase of three replacement Dispatch Workstations at a cost of $59,733 to be paid through the Public Improvement Fund with a transfer from the Central Dispatch Fund Balance.
• The board approved Anthony Meyaard to fill the position of designated assessor for a minimum period of five years, beginning Dec. 31.